Thoughts On Critical Thinking

Walsh Enterprises Business & Financial Advisors Huntington Beach, California USA http://www.awalsh.us walshal1@aol.com (714) 465-2749 Thoughts on Critical Thinking (Thinking About Thinking: Tongue in Cheek) Reprinted from a blog posted May 2009 at www.walshal.wordpress.com

Much has been written about Critical Thinking, some of it by people who may never have had a critical thought stray through their heads. There’s lots of jingoistic words & phrases thrown around, and there’s a Critical Thinking “coach” around every corner. Having taken on an active slate of business challenges over the past three decades, I thought I’d take a few moments to throw my hat into the ring. To my mind, Critical Thinking is largely a tug of war between Common Sense and Innovation.

Common Sense is a catch phrase that’s readily thrown around by everyone; including myself. In most of society, it carries a revered connotation. It has its place in the world. Starting with Mommy and Daddy, we are exposed to a variety of truths and truisms during our formative years; which become the basis of our world view. As we mature, truisms tend to fall by the wayside and truths that stand the test of time firm up (Of course, some people never outgrow the truisms and spend their whole lives in abject ignorance). Common Sense is the basic foundation upon which we deal with the world around us. I would venture to say that most companies have a form of Common Sense built into their culture. If you don’t believe me, just try to stray away from the accepted “group think” and see how rapidly you’re alienated. Some would disagree as to its value. Albert Einstein described Common Sense as – “the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen”.

As we deal with decisions, at some point Common Sense is insufficient and we switch to Innovation mode. Innovative thinking takes us “outside the box” into new and presumably uncharted territory (although some would argue that there’s very little new under the sun). Many people are uncomfortable delving into this realm. But when our Common Sense (internal knowledge set) falls short, we have little choice but to reach for new answers if we’re going to make any progress.

Innovation challenges Common Sense. Common Sense serves as a check on Innovation. Thus the tug of war. Innovation has a strong place in the world; even in such sacred arenas as the scientific world. innovative thinking takes place all the time in the scientific world. The innovator is then subjected to intense scrutiny, and often ridicule, until their thought is either disproven, accepted, or replaced with a more popular theory. In corporations, innovation tends to be driven by mavericks who, for one reason or another, are willing to buck the “group think” (Note: Some companies are ruled by committee, and I don’t know of any committee that ever developed an innovative thought). The innovator will usually have a very lonely existence until they can prove the success of their idea; at which time everyone wants partial credit. Such is the state of humanity.

So what does all this mean? Critical thinking starts with what we know, and often expands into new territory. We glean the best information we can, and usually make a decision in an imperfect condition, with a certain level of risk attached. Innovation is usually a solitary activity; with little support from the “crowd”. Innovation and Common Sense balance each other, and hopefully guide us to a reasoned conclusion. We can also draw upon the Common Sense of others (an act that many would consider Innovation in and of itself). One nice factor is that few decisions are completely irreversible. If we take a gamble and achieve an undesirable outcome, it can usually be reversed or mitigated in some way; especially if we act quickly once the early results begin to take shape. Good luck with your critical thinking.

Thoughts On Critical Thinking

by Alan Walsh on Jul 13, 2009

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